C-202 Part 4: Case StudiesIt became the firm’s most important award and was
given to the best performing teams, divisions, units and
subsidiaries. Award criteria included an increase in EVA
and the successful implementation of the top+ philoso-
phy within a certain period of time.^27 An SMC project
manager described the implementation of the overall
program as a “mixture of push and pull efforts”.^28
Numerous examples of the (successful) implemen-
tation of single aspects of top+ in groups or regions
exist. Since 2000, Siemens used top+ as a framework
for achieving performance improvements in their US
business. The measures not only targeted the businesses
independently, but also included initiatives for synergy
realization across businesses. The latter included aspects
such as “one face to key customer groups” and “shared
services for corporate functions”.^29 As early as in 2002,
the results of implementing elements of the top+ ini-
tiative appeared promising. Interestingly, at that time,
Klaus Kleinfeld, one of the initiators of top+ and SMC
and later Siemens President and CEO, served as CEO of
the US business. Siemens’ CEO von Pierer noted:“Launched two years ago, our top+ U.S. Business Initiative
has begun to show results. Earnings at our American com-
panies have increased significantly.”^30
A further example is the strategic reorganization of
the group Information and Communication Networks
(ICN) in 2001. Following the changing strategic focus,
tools of the top+ program were applied. The group defined
concrete measures that were monitored monthly and, if
necessary, adjusted. This included “reducing the num-
ber of production sites by half, optimizing sales channels
and accelerating development activities in promising
innovation fields”.^31 A variety of other businesses imple-
mented elements of top+ in 2001 (e.g., A&D and Siemens
Real Estate). For example, A&D in the Automation and
Control (A&C) group applied tools such as asset man-
agement, quality, and cost reduction.^32
An example of a particular implementation aspect
of top+ and of the challenges firms such as Siemens face
when dealing with a diverse business portfolio is the
“business excellence leadership training” in the Power
Generation division. In 2000, the division’s management
team decided to implement the top+ quality initiative,
mainly aiming at improvements of the process quality.
The power generation business is characterized by large
customized orders for single customers. Compared to
businesses with large-scale production facilities, rela-
tively small series and individual customer demands lead
to a typical project duration of 18 to 24 months. Process
improvements by quality management tools such as SixSigma are difficult to (statistically) measure since the dif-
ferent projects are only partly comparable. Nevertheless,
process quality and customer satisfaction needed to be
improved. Therefore, management decided to develop a
distinct competence aiming at continuous improvement
that builds upon elements of Six Sigma.^33
As the in-house consultancy SMC notes, today the
top+ program is implemented in all groups and regions.^34
Though top+ has become the “standard” for operational
excellence in many divisions and regions, the imple-
mentation rigor and scope, however, still varies. To
successfully implement the top+ program requires the
commitment of the firm’s group managers. Familiarizing
them with three sub-programs innovation, customer
focus, and global competitiveness, and their respective
contents appears critical.^35 Indeed, Siemens manage-
ment identified two success factors of the top+ program.
First, top management team commitment is decisive for
implementation efforts. Second, communication across
all firm levels is key. Both factors are strongly interre-
lated. For example, the annual winners of the top+ award
are invited to an awards ceremony in Berlin, where they
are awarded a prize by the CEO. Further, there are man-
agement training programs reflecting the top+ program
and methods. These training programs are targeted at
different management levels, ranging from members of
the top management to team managers.Capability Development and
the top+ Program
As indicated above, enabling the development of compe-
tences, for example, in quality or process management
was a critical aspect of top+. Indeed, Siemens top man-
agement acknowledged the importance of capabilities as
well as its fit with the environment for the firm’s long-
term success. In 2007, then Chief Strategy Officer Horst
Kayser remarked:
“Management Capabilities are decisive for sustainable com-
petitive advantage. We regard a portfolio of experiences
and competences and its consistency with the external
environment as critical for success.”^36
In particular, the top+ program emphasized different
aspects of organizational learning such as experiential
learning, knowledge management, and best-practice
transfer. First, the program aimed at using accumu-
lated management experience in multiple areas. For
example, in 2001, Siemens Dematic and Siemens VDO
Automotive launched restructuring and integration pro-
grams that explicitly built upon prior experiences with
top+ and were expected to result in productivity gains of